Danger of Tribunals

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THERE IS an important issue which seer ns to be going unnoticed at the moment by the workers' movement.

This issue is 'Industrial Tribunals', • wnich is a way that the bosses and Tories can attack the workers from behind the capitalists' law.

An industrial tribunal is a bosses' kangaroo court. All the three members of the panel are appointed by the government. This means that select people who do not wish to see the éxtension of workers' rights.

Unfortunately, I did not realise this and took my case before the Tribunal, where I thought it was certain l would win.

The background of the case was that I worked for a local Golf Club as a greenkeeper in this area. Average také-home pay for 40 hours was £27. Overtime pay was not allowed, but overtime was expected. This "usually meant a 5.30am start most Saturdays and Sundays during the 'growing season' The Club also refused to give me the rights of a 'contract of employmeht' My crimes for receiving the 'sack' was missing five days at Horticultural College for which my punishment was the removal of 19 days holidays. After this I decided to join the TGWU again (I had been a member before taking that particular job).

I tried to unionise the Club with the other employees and try and receive the basic union rights on breaks and pay.

The crunch came when the club extended the course by four holes and expected me to cut the old holes and the new ones, meaning overtime without pay. I refused and was sacked without the chance to consult my union official.

Not satisfied with this I was found guilty of bringing an unreasonable case and a £50 fine was imposed, and I was told how lucky I was to have been employed earning 80p an hour-better than the youngsters on YOPs.

In my experience of this 'court' I have seen that the rights of all workers cannot be defended until these kangaroo courts have been disbanded and smashed. I feel they should be replaced by:

1. Workers' committees, with freely elected people from local factories and unemployed unions.

2. Less centralisation of the hearings and these should be moved to most towns, to allow witnesses to travel:

3. Free legal aid and full wages to every applicant and witnesses.

4. No waiting time scale before cases can be taken to a hearing before the committee.

5. Complete press freedom to put each side of the argument without omissions and distortions of the usual media.

I think that a campaign has to be fought quickly to preserve workers' rights, if not around these ideas then similar ones. 1 personally hope that somebody can expand these ideas into a concrete set of proposals.

Yours fraternally, MARK FOWELL, Hyndburn SO Group « Dear 5